If your parents never let you break open your Etch A Sketch® to find out how it works, if you’ve always wanted to create your own movie soundtrack but didn’t know how, or if you want to see an up close and personal view of flowers, leaves and mystery items, then you’ll want to explore Gateway Science Museum’s new spring exhibits. The new exhibits—Toys: The Inside Story, Noise and Larger than Life open at noon, Saturday, Jan. 21 at Gateway Science Museum in downtown Chico.

Toys: The Inside Story includes 12 hands-on stations illustrating the simple mechanisms commonly found in toys, and lets visitors create their own toy-like combinations of gears, pulleys, linkages, cams, and circuits. Visitors will discover the worm gear and cam mechanisms that make Jack jump out of his box, learn why it takes a steady hand to win at the classic game Operation® and create crazy optical illusions by connecting movable pulleys.

In the South Gallery, visitors can investigate the science of sound, music and hearing with Noise! Visitors can create the soundtrack for a science fiction film, generate intricate designs in sand without ever touching the sand, and explore the inner workings of the human ear. There are 11 hands-on activities, including a scream chamber for visitors to measure the decibel level of their loudest scream, learning to play the pipe organ via PCP tubes and much more.

Larger than Life explores a variety of subjects in the natural world through the unique perspective of photographs taken zoomed in at high magnification. Photographs provide a truly “up close and personal” view of flowers, leaves and a host of other specimens that will keep you guessing.

Toys: The Inside Story was created by the Montshire Museum of Science in Vermont and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation. Noise and Larger than Life are produced by ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, Ashland, Ore.

Gateway Science Museum is open Wednesday – Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and is located at 625 Esplanade. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children and free for museum members. For more information, please visit www.gatewayscience.org or check out our Facebook page.